La La Land Director Damien Chazelle and Georgie Fame to be honoured at the Arqiva supported 2017 Jazz FM Awards

The nominations for the 2017 Jazz FM Awards have been announced and, notably, the ceremony will take place on 25th April, the 100th anniversary of Ella Fitzgerald’s birth.

Coinciding with a particularly significant year for jazz, which sees noteworthy anniversaries occurring across the year including 100 years since the very first jazz recording as well as centenaries for Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie, this year’s gala will present thirteen awards to a range of stand-out artists responsible for carving the way forward in the worlds of jazz, blues and soul.

While the majority of winners will be announced on the evening, the organisers have confirmed that pioneering R&B and jazz vocalist Georgie Fame will receive the PPL Lifetime Achievement Award and La La Land and Whiplash director Damien Chazelle, who on Sunday won the Best Director award at the 2017 Oscars for La La Land, will receive the Impact Award for the notable impact his work is having on bringing jazz to wider audiences.

Arqiva is delighted to be sponsoring the Album of the Year Award, which along with the UK Jazz Act of the Year and Live Experience of the Year will be decided by public vote and the nominees for these categories include Shabaka Hutchings, Gregory Porter, Wayne Shorter, Madeleine Peyroux, Soweto Kinch, Anderson .Paak, Kurt Elling, Roberto Fonseca and Julian Arguelles.

"We're delighted to be sponsoring the Album of the Year Award at the Jazz FM awards again this year. It's a great opportunity to celebrate the significant achievements in Jazz this year, whilst also celebrating some of the most iconic artists from the genre for whom this year marks their centenary.

"Commercial radio is becoming more and more diverse in terms of the variety of genres available, Jazz is a big part of that. It's fantastic that Jazz FM are bringing this genre to a national audience on DAB."

The night will also host several performances from a range of acclaimed artists, including a one-off, exclusive show from Georgie Fame with a quartet led by Guy Barker, as well as a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald performed by a special guest performer. Ella holds a very special place in Jazz FM’s heart and history having launched the station in 1990 with two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and was one of the first voices to be heard on air.

Nominated artists this year include Laura Mvula, Stax Records icon William Bell, and neo-soul singer-songwriter Jordan Rakei who are up for International Soul Artist of the Year, US heavyweights Brad Mehldau, David Bowie collaborator Donny McCaslin, and genre-bending pianist Robert Glasper who will fight it out for International Jazz Artist of the Year, and groove duo Yussef Kamaal, pianist Ashley Henry, and Nubya Garcia who represent the outstanding British talent that has emerged in 2016 and are up for Breakthrough Act of the Year.

The Rolling Stones have been nominated for two awards under the categories of Album of the Year and Blues Artist of the Year for Blues & Lonesome, with US singer-songwriters Bonnie Raitt and Eric Bibb also in contention for the latter award. Another dual nominee is drummer and social activist Jaimeo Brown for Jazz Innovation and Digital Initiative of the Year, where he will be up against DJ Gilles Peterson and US trumpeter Dave Douglas.

The Jazz FM Awards 2017 is a partnership between Jazz FM and Serious and is made possible with the support of Mishcon De Reya, PRS For Music, Rathbones, Pollitt & Partners, Oris Watches, Grange Hotels, RCS, Denbies Wine Estate, Arqiva, Fever Tree, Yamaha, The Piano Bar Soho and PPL.